Don't have an account?

Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

'Hockeyday at the Coliseum' becoming an annual hit for Springfield Hockey Heritage Society

081013 hockey heritage society.JPG

From left, Bruce Landon, Bruce Cline and Yves Locas gather in front of the Eastern States Coliseum on Saturday to celebrate "Hockeyday at the Coliseum," an annual gathering of the Springfield Hockey Heritage Society in West Springfield.
(Dave Roback / The Republican)

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Bruce Cline and Yves Locas represent the “Coliseum days” of Springfield hockey. President/general manager Bruce Landon of the Springfield Falcons also represents that era, and so much more.

Together, they served Saturday as headliners of “Hockeyday at the Coliseum,” an offseason get-together sponsored by the Springfield Hockey Heritage Society which took place at the Eastern States Coliseum.

This marked the third such endeavor by an organization which has grown fast since its formation by brothers Steve and Lou Bordeaux in 2009.

Cline, Locas and Landon are among the many former Springfield players who have joined the Hockey Heritage Society, helping with its announced goal of “Preserving the legacy by honoring the past.”

Cline, 81, spoke lovingly of his time playing for the Springfield Indians. He skated on a first line with Bill Sweeney and Billy McCreary/Parker MacDonald on teams that won three straight Calder Cups in the early 1960s. No other American Hockey League teams have done that, before or since.

“No question, my fondest memories of being here have to do with those three championships,” he said. “We had such powerhouses, anybody on the ice could score. And Mr. Shore – he had the knack for finding great defensemen. We loved playing here, and when we’d hear “Shake, Rattle and Roll” before every home game, that would give us a big lift.”

“Mr. Shore,” of course, was Eddie Shore, an NHL All-Star defenseman who bought the Springfield club in 1939, saved it from disaster and operated it for five decades.

Locas, 74, played for the Indians and Springfield Kings in the late ’60s. He remembers Shore as “a great teacher” and fondly recalls the warm welcome Springfield fans gave him when he was traded here.

“Eddie had his own system, and that included how you skated,” Locas said. “He wanted us to ‘sit down a little bit’ – bend our knees for better balance on the ice. Anyone who played for him could look back 15-20 years later and really appreciate what he did.”

Landon came to Springfield in 1969 as a 19-year-old goaltender, drafted by the Los Angeles Kings.

“My favorite memory as a Springfield player? It would have to be my first game, when I had a shutout. I played against Yves that season, but he didn’t score on me – I looked it up,” Landon said, smiling in Locas’ direction.

That first shutout merely was step one for Landon in a career which has seen him succeed at every level of hockey, from rookie player to award-winning executive. He’s getting ready for the 20th season of the Falcons, a franchise he started with partner Wayne LaChance in 1994, thereby preserving hockey here after the original Springfield Indians franchise was moved to Worcester by owner Peter Cooney.

“It’s a great feeling to be here today, as part of a society dedicated to Springfield hockey,” Landon said.

COLISEUM CLIPS: A moment of silence was observed to mark the passing in 2013 of society members Tom Mulvilhill, a long-time goal judge at Springfield games; and Jimmy Anderson, an AHL Hall of Famer ... Society member Dave Keaney took a quiet stroll by himself around the old arena, where he played as a kid in Shore’s junior league on Saturday mornings, and later as a star for Cathedral High School and American International College. “It was quite a feeling; a memory every step of the way,” he said ... Bernie Tourangeau, a former director of media relations for Springfield clubs, was saluted as the society’s oldest member (90) ... Ted Shore, Harold Passerini and Rusty Johnson were introduced as players for the Springfield Flyers, an Atlantic Hockey League entry in the late ’40s and early ’50s. The Flyers drew many a capacity crowd at the Coliseum on Sunday nights ... Lou Bordeaux announced that Billy Inglis, who played for both the Kings and Indians, is the latest former player to join the Heritage Society.